Importance of networking for professionals

The phenomenal growth of social media has led several organisations and companies to adopt it for growing their business, getting more customers and building a stronger brand image. Social media websites are a great platform for individuals to share information and keep in touch with their business partners and colleagues as well apart from family. In India, an increase of 37 per cent was noted in social media users in 2013.

Websites such as LinkedIn are quite popular as the ideal place for networking for professionals. These websites are similar to other social media websites and allow individuals to connect with professionals from similar or related fields.

Professional networking sites offer a number of benefits to those who like to use their networking skills to seek new opportunities in their career. Some of the benefits include:

  1. You get to know about job opportunities faster. In some cases, these may be opportunities that you may not come across through job portals or dailies.
  2. You get to know more about the company. This will help you to make decisions easily on what company to choose.
  3. Most of these professional networking sites host informative industry related activities, which can be useful in knowledge building.

There are several sites for business owners too. These websites can play an important role in helping your business achieve new heights. You can register on these websites and build a professional networking circle that will help you in several ways. Here’s how social networking sites for business can help you:

  1. Get new business leads: Your contacts can get your new business some beneficial leads. However, make sure you are very formal while conveying your business interests. This way you will be able to get great opportunities and also maintain relations.
  2. Gather inside information about the industry: One of the major advantages of professional networking sites is that it gives you access to information which otherwise cannot be found easily. Connecting with the right kind of people will help you get inside information about the industry..
  3. Learn more about best practices: These networking sites are the best places for you to pick up industry practices and share knowledge that may benefit you and others.

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